Portable electric fan



Marchv 16, 1,937. l E', FLADELAND l 2,073,868

PORTABLE ELECTRIC FAN Filed septV 22,l 19:54

A'TroRNEYs Peienfed miel.V 1s, 1937 UNITED s 'rn'rlas PARENT oI-Flcn 'IClaims.-

'l'his invention relates to improvements in portable electric raus.

It is the primary object of the invention to improve the portability andutility of an electric 5 fan byproviding a light-weight assembly offan.'-

motor,v guard, and base: wherein the motor is supported, preferablyresiliently, bythe guard;

and the guard is so made as to comprise a reel,`

v upon which the electric conductor cord may be L wound; and the basecomprises legs foldable upon the guard, both for adjustment of theposition of z Like parts are identiiled by the'same reference charactersthroughout the several views. I

The guard i may be of any conventional .construction. For convenience.strength, and economy of manufacture it may be stamped from sheet metal,as shown, to comprise a front spider i having integral arms 1 connectingit with a rear spider l which provides a Support for the fan motor.Alternate spokes of the rear spider l may conveniently be formedobliquely inwardly. as shown at l. while the intermediatevspokes' I0 arein the same plane as the outer ring portion of spiderTothebackoithemotorcasing Ilmaybe secured a vibration dampening disk Ilof fiber 4,0 or the like, having apertures I1 registering with f theapertures in the motor casing to'admitair thereto forcooling. "I'o theouter periphery of the ber disk Ii the spokes Il of the spider l areconnected. p About theintermediate portion of motor casing ilisaring Ilofrubberorthellke,upon whichtheinner endportlonsofthepokes. areheld byan encircling clamp Il. This arrange- .ment provides a comparativelyrlsid support for tlemotorirom'theguardwhile the on of motor vibrationto the guard." To promote compactneas the fan is preferably so madethatits blades revolve 'directly about themotorcasinginsteadofbeingoihetinaplano ssforwardly'tbereoi..'Ihearmaturcshaftshewn (Cl. 230-273) v at 2l in Figure3 carriesthecupeshaped fanhub 2l uponwhich the blades 22 are mounted to rotateabout the motor. V 1

During the rotation of the cup-shaped fan hub 2ltheairconiinedbetweenthefauhubandthe 5 motor casing will be frictionallyset into motion and centrifugally ejected from said space, wherel by toinduce a ow of cooling air through the motor casing and into said spacethe openings at 23. 10

In corresponding locations on the front and. rear guard spiders i and 8"are ears 24 for the hinged connection to the guard of the individuallyadjustable legs 25 comprising the fan we. These legs are preferably'made of stampings for 15 lightness and strength, and have ears Z6aligned withtheearsuoftheguard. Asaconvenient means of clamping eachieg'lli in any desired position of adjustment. contiguous ears 24 and 2Bare preferably connected in pairs by oppositely 20 threaded pintle pinsIl which are threadedly engaged with an interni ate barrel 28 like thatof a turnbuckle. A lever I projects from the barrel for its convenientmanipulation, and the arrangement is such that by a fraction of.one'turn 25 of the barrel the ears and 26 maybeclamping- 1y engagedagainst each other 'or released from-andrearspiderportionsoftheguarmassbown inFlgure2. Y 40'lheguardispreferablysodedgnedastoservethepurposeofareelupcnwhichtheelectric .conductor cord may be woundwhen-the Ian isV 4folded for transportation. To this end the arms 1oftheguardmaybebentconcaveiytowardthecenteroftheguardmsclearly'showninlip' ures2and3.toenable the cordlltobewound thereon.' Withtheleasandtheguardthusdisposed. thefanmaybe'eonveniently enclosedin a VcaseILasshowninFlgureZ V51| Becausethis isa portable fan. and because alternating is'not everywhereavailable, thefanmotorwillordinarilybeuniversal. Por' alternatingcurrent,however. itispossibletouse abrushlesvsinducdmotonandthismeol 55motor may be designed with a stationary shaft 40 rigidly connecting thefront and rear spiders of the guard, as shown in Figure 4 therebygreatly contributing to its strength and enabling it to be made oflighter materials.

The field coils in this type oi motor are mounted directly on thestationary shaft 40, and the motor casing 4l carries amature bars ofconventional design and is made to revolve on the stationary shaft.

Thus, the blades 22 in the Figure 4 construction may be mounted directlyupon the revoluble motor casing, providing a very strong, light, andcompact structure. l

I claim:

1. In a fan structure the combination with a ian motor and rotatingblades operatively connected to be operated thereby, of a motor supportcomprising front and rear guard elements,

means interconnecting said elements, aligned ears xed with saidelements, pintle means extending through said ears, a support pivotallymounted on saidpintle means, said ears and pintle means being positionedfor said support pivot to stand substantially witmn the radius of seidblades, and clamping 'mechanism for holding the support legs inadjustment.

2. In a fan, the combination with fan mechanism and a motor, oi a motorsupport provided with spaced ears, a leg pivoted to said support andcomprising complementary ears, oppositely threaded pintles extendingthrough the associated ears of the leg and support, and an oppositelythreaded barrel connected with said pintles and interposed between saidsets er ears for the clamping thereof in any desired position of pivotaladjustment on said pintles.

3. A portable ian structure comprising the combination with a motor andfan blades oper- '40 atively connected to be operated thereby, of amotor support comprising guard elements shielding said blades and spacedat opposite sides of said motor, leg members individually in pivotalconnection with the respective guard elements for the support thereofand provided with individual .clamp means manually operable invarious'supporting positions of said members for ixing their positionsof pivotal adjustment respecting the elements supported by therespective leg members,

whereby either of said elements may be raised or lowered with respect tothe other by pivotally adjusting the leg member connected therewith andsaid elements may be clamped in their respective raised4 orky loweredpositions.

4. A portable fan ,r structure comprising the combination with a motorand fan blades, of a support for said mot'or including means for atleest peruiuly enclosing seid blades, and front and back legsindependently collapsible upon said support and 'movable to positionsinwhich said support is sustained thereby, at least one of said legs beingindependently adjustable through a plurality of said sustainingpositions in a direction to vary the inclination of said support uponthe other oi' said legs, and means for clampingly maintaining saidadjustable leg in adjustment, said means being eiIective in each of itsseveral sustaining positions.

5. A portable fan structure comprising the combination with an electricmotor provided with fan blades and a support for said motor havingportions at the front and rear of the path of said blades, oftransversely extending leg elements pivotally connected with said frontand rear support portions and movable upon their pivotal connectionsfrom a position of substantial parallelism at opposite sides of the pathof said blades to supporting positions beneath said support, andmanually operable means for releasably iixing the angular adjustment ofone of said leg elements in a variety of said supporting positions withrespect to the support portion with which it is connected, whereby tovary the inclination of said support. said motor, and said blades.

6. A portable Ian structure comprising the combination with a motor andblades, of a support having portions at the front and rear oi the pathof said blades, transversely extending leg elements, means pivotallyconnecting said leg elements with the front and rear portions of saidsupport for movement between positions of collapse substantially flatupon said support, and extended positions in which said support iscarried thereby, a manually adjustable clamp including coacting partscarried by said support and one of said leg elements, and means forreleasably subjecting said parts to pressure in a direction to fix theadjustment of said leg element in any of a plurality of said extendedpositions, whereby said leg element may be set to vary the inclinationof said support, motor, and blades.

'7. A portable ian structure comprising the combination with a motor andblades, of a support having portions at the front and rear of the pathof said blades, transversely extending leg elements, means pivotallyconnecting said leg elements with the front and rear portions of saidsupport for movement between positions of collapse substantially ilatupon said support, and extended positions in which said support iscarried thereby, a manually adjustable clamp including coacting partscarried by saitl support and one of said leg elements, and means forreleasably subjecting said parts to pressure in-a,

JOHN E. FLADELAND.

cER'rirIcATE oF coRRm'nfIoN.` '5

y Patent No. 2","?3,8 68. n March 16, 1937.

Jorm E. FLADEL'AND.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the lprinted 'specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as'vfollows: Page 2,first. column. line 2?, claim 1, strike out the word "1egs"; and thatthe said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein thatthe same tney conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office. v

Signed. and sealed this 27th-day of April, A. D. 1937.

Leslie Frazer (Se-a1) l Acting .Commissioner of Patents.

